Clinicians using e-prescribing systems override most medication safety alerts
Despite having computer-based systems that warn medication-prescribing doctors of possible errors, physicians often ignore the alerts and rely upon their own judgment, according to a study by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The study suggests that doctors find the current medication alerts annoying rather than helpful, according to senior author Saul Weingart, M.D., Vice President for safety at Dana-Farber. Clinicians submitted 3.5 million electronic prescriptions between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2006, with 1 in 15 producing an alert for a drug interaction or drug allergy. Almost 99 percent of the alerts were for a drug the patient was already taking. Clinicians overrode more than 90 percent of the drug interaction alerts and 77 percent of the drug allergy alerts. “The sheer volume of alerts generated by electronic prescribing systems stands to limit the safety benefits,” said Thomas Isaac, MD, the paper’s first author. “Better decision support programs will generate more pertinent alerts, making electronic prescribing more effective and safer.” The study appears in the Feb. 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://www.dana-farber.org/abo/news/press/2009/...

MIT project leads to healthcare workers tracking TB the high-tech way: via PDAs
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) can reduce the test result tracking time for tuberculosis cases by more than two weeks, according to a study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Patients with drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis require close monitoring as they undergo a two-year regimen of powerful antibiotics, which includes daily, then monthly injections. A project launched in Lima, Peru found that equipping healthcare workers with PDAs to record data dropped the average time for patients’ test results to reach their doctors from 23 days to eight days. “You can monitor patients in a more timely way,” said Joaquin Blaya, a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology who initiated the project. “It also prevents results from getting lost.” Under the old patient tracking system, four healthcare workers would visit more than 100 healthcare centers and labs twice a week to record patient test results on paper, then transcribe the results onto two sets of forms per patient. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/itw-pda-tt0211.html

‘Shared Roadmap’ for health IT calls for cooperation, leadership
Three health information technology organizations have released a “Shared Roadmap” on how health IT should be used toward handling healthcare costs and quality of care. The verdict: it is not a cure-all, but health IT is definitely a “critical first step” in treating the medical care system’s various shortfalls. The report, by John Halamka, Chair of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel, Mark Leavitt, Chair of the Certification Commission for Healthcare IT, and John Tooker, Chair of the National eHealth Collaborative, notes that current healthcare IT adoption efforts are hindered by a “fragmented” market and limited funding. But there have been significant accomplishments. “What is probably more important has been the development of engagement and trust from stakeholders throughout the healthcare sector, something that can not be rushed,” the report notes. “With the increased funding available in the economic stimulus legislation, we will build on the momentum, trust, and leadership that has already been painstakingly established.” http://www.nationalehealth.org/uploadedFiles/...

EHRs being used on limited basis in Canadian cancer treatment centers
Remote cancer centers in Canada are making limited use of electronic health records (EHRs) to link with regional cancers centers – if they’re doing it at all, according to a new medical report card by the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC). The Toronto-based coalition’s latest “Report Card on Cancer in Canada” shows that 7 of 11 clinics surveyed across the country have access to an integrated EHR system, but only three clinics actually allow clinicians to enter data. All 11 clinics are two hours or more away from a regional cancer center. “This raises the possibility that patients in these communities may not be getting full benefits of care in terms of efficacy, safety and efficiencies received by patients in direct proximity to regional cancer centers,” CACC past-chair Dr. William Hryniuk said. http://www.canceradvocacy.ca/reportcard/... and http://www.canceradvocacy.ca/

CIGNA to unveil cost estimator to help prevent medical care ‘sticker shock’
In April, CIGNA plans to launch a “Cost of Care Estimator” (CCE) designed to take the mystery out of how much health plan members’ out-of-pocket costs will be for medical services. The CCE’s real-time cost estimates detail portions of the bill to be paid by the CIGNA health plan and by the covered individuals’ sources of liability, whether that is out-of-pocket costs due to co-insurance or co-pays, or their flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and health savings accounts, according to Jeffrey Kang, M.D., CIGNA’s Chief Medical Officer. “Every other service industry provides estimates of cost prior to service,” Kang said. “For the first time, we are systematically trying to do this for healthcare. From the customer perspective, we are helping them make informed choices prior to service and avoiding potential ‘sticker shock.’ From the physician’s perspective, we are reducing the risk of bad debt because the individual is informed prior to service. Overall, this will improve the doctor-patient relationship and allow them to focus on the more important goal of health improvement.” http://newsroom.cigna.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1016

Wireless drug delivery devices could be subject to hackers, threaten patient safety
Wirelessly activated drug delivery devices could be hacked to steal personal information or release potentially fatal doses of a therapeutic, according to a study by researchers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL and Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia. The report, “Security risks for remote intelligent Pharmacy-on-a-Chip delivery systems,” calls for companies to ensure they have security measures in place before using Remote Intelligent Drug Delivery Systems (RIDDS). Such devices wirelessly monitor a patient’s health and adjust timing and dosage of medication. The technique is especially beneficial to patients who cannot normally medicate themselves. But researchers note that these same benefits also make the system vulnerable to hackers and place the patients’ privacy data at risk. The study was published in the February issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology. http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/Materials-Formulation/...

In West Virginia, it’s not easy to teach an old doc a new e-health trick
An age barrier hasn’t made things easy in West Virginia, where the state is trying to implement an all-electronic health records (EHR) system. Younger doctors love the idea, but older physicians are having a hard time giving up pen and paper. According to Jerry Luck, Director of facilities systems administration at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the more technology rolled in, the more staffers pushed back. “We actually had some nurses who were completely computer-illiterate,” Luck said. “They didn’t use a computer at work, and they had no use for it at home.” The situation with doctors wasn’t much better: “With younger doctors, using technology was their preference,” Luck said. “For the older and more senior doctors, who for years only dealt with paper, it was a far more difficult transition.” West Virginia is not alone – hospitals nationwide are under pressure to implement more-efficient IT systems within the next five years. http://webwereld.nl/internationaal-nieuws/...

Australia launches telehealth lifestyle project for chronic disease sufferers
The Australian state of Queensland has launched a telehealth project in the local government district of Ipswich to improve the efficiency of treatment for patients with chronic disease. The Telehealth Lifestyle Coordination project will monitor and manage chronic disease sufferers without the need for patients to leave their homes. If successful, the system could be rolled out nationwide, according to Erik Jansink, Chief Executive Officer of Ipswich Community Aid. The pilot project, which will involve roughly 100 patients, aims to show that telehealth is a viable alternative to hospital care, Jansink said. http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2009/...

Senate passes stimulus bill, must work out IT health differences with House
House and Senate leaders are attempting to resolve differences between the health information technology provisions in their economic stimulus bills now that both branches have passed a version of the legislation. IT-related differences are minimal between the two plans. The Senate bill, which passed Tuesday by a vote of 61-37, will provide $21 billion for health IT, while the House version calls for about $1 billion less. The Senate bill has easier provisions for protecting patient information, but also gives the Health and Human Services Department more latitude to issue rules about accounting for disclosure of patient information. And the new Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT would receive $3 billion under the Senate plan and $2 billion from the House. http://govhealthit.com/articles/2009/02/10/... and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/...

Health officials rely on social media to get word out about Salmonella outbreak
Social media played a crucial role in helping federal health agencies to inform the public about the recent outbreak of salmonella-tainted peanut butter, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agencies used widgets, blogs, Twitter, podcasts, mobile alerts and online videos to warn the public that peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corp. of America for institutional use and for additives in other products such as snacks may be tainted with salmonella. Eight people died and 500 were sickened by the infected peanut butter. “The response has been really amazing,” said Janice Nall, Director of the division of eHealth marketing at CDC. “We look at social media as additional channels to reach people where they are.” For example, FDA’s recall widget was used 1.4 million times in nine days, Nall said. http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090209_7840.php

Canadian government grants additional $400 million for national EHR system
The Canadian government has granted an additional $400 million [USD] for creation of a national electronic health record (EHR) system. The funding brings the government’s total commitment to $720 million since 2007 and $1.7 billion since the plan was implemented in 2001. The additional funding will help the nation’s EHR overseer, Canada Health Infoway, speed up implementation of electronic medical record systems for physicians, as well as connect hospitals, pharmacies and community care facilities, according to Canadian Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq. The system will save lives, money, avoid medical errors and “result in a positive contribution to Canada’s economy, including the creation of thousands of sustainable, knowledge-based jobs throughout Canada.” http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/_2009/2009_14-eng.php

Axolotl, NY health department and NY eHealth Collaborative to build state HIE
San Jose, CA-based health information exchange developer Axolotl Corp. is partnering with the New York Department of Health and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) to build the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY). According to NYeC Executive Director Rachel Block, SHIN-NY is the foundation of the State’s technical infrastructure and will allow clinicians and consumers to make timely, fact-based decisions that will reduce medical errors and redundant tests, and improve the quality and coordination of care. The SHIN-NY will utilize the Internet and include specialized software protocols and services, including security tools, and will be a part of the emerging Nationwide Health Information Network.  http://www.axolotl.com/news/2009_Feb10/index.htm